1. Sŏron -- 2. Ŭisik ŭi chonggyojŏk ch'ŭngmyŏn -- 3. Yŏng : Chŏng Yag-yong ŭi simnon -- 4. Yŏngch'e : Chŏng Yag-yong ŭi insŏngnon -- 5. 'Yŏngch'e' insŏngnon esŏ pon ch'ŏnin kwan'gye -- 6. Kyŏllon.

This longitudinal study examined the development of moral judgement in 37 nursing students attending a university in Suwon, Korea. The participants completed the Korean version of the Defining Issues Test to allow analysis of their level of moral judgement. The development of moral judgement was quantified using ‘the moral development score’ at each stage (i.e. the six stages detailed by Kohlberg) and the ‘P(%) score’ (a measure of the overall moral judgement level). The results were as follows: (1) the moral (...) development score for stage 5A was consistently the highest across the four years of the students’ course, showing significant differences in some sociodemographic factors including home, birth order and monthly income; and (2) the P(%) score was higher in fourth-year (47.47 ± 11.21) than in first-year (46.13±9.73) students. There was no significant difference in the P(%) score according to sociodemographic factors. Further studies will examine in detail the correlation between curriculum and moral judgement development. We suggest that courses in ethics education should be made more relevant. (shrink)

Lorsque nous parlons généralement d’un espace vide, ce vide n’est pas réellement vide physiquement. L’espace vide est rempli d’air, de matière invisible, mais il ne peut pas être vu ou capturé. Pourtant, nous savons bien que l’air, élément indispensable pour tous les êtres vivants, est également présent autour de nous. Devrions-nous alors considérer différemment l’espace vide et l’air dans l’installation? Pour Yasuaki Onishi, sculpteur et installateur in situ, l’espace vide est un lieu essentiel pour l’installation et l’inspiration. Il s’intéresse à (...) l’invisible, à l’espace, à l’air, à l’espace négatif, etc. Il révèle ce qui est invisible, en utilisant un matériau léger tel qu’un adhésif liquide noir et le support de matériaux immatériels tels que la lumière, l’air ou d’autres matériaux intangibles. Parmi ses travaux, en particulier, en analysant les œuvres de la série Vertical Volume, Daily Distance, Gawa, Shaping Air – A Breath of Mobility et Vertical Space, nous cherchons dans cette étude la signification de l’air invisible, du ki, du svi, du wonsang et le sens du vide du Tao et du bouddhisme. Quel est le sens du vide dans une installation de Yasuaki Onishi? Et quel est l’enjeu entre l’espace vide et l’espace plein, l’espace visible et l’espace invisible, la matérialité et l’immatérialité? Dans son travail, qui ne suit pas le processus général de la sculpture traditionnelle, nous trouverons le lien avec la signification de l’espace négatif et avec le terme coréen gan, l’espace-temps, avec le mot japonais ma qui constitue un concept esthétique au Japon. When we generally speak of an empty space, this empty is not really physically empty. The empty space is filled with air, invisible matter, but it cannot be seen or captured. However, we know that air, an essential element for all living things, is also present around us. So should we consider differently the empty space and air in the installation? For Yasuaki Onishi, sculptor and installator in situ, the empty space is an essential place for installation work and inspiration. The empty space that we think is empty is filled with substances that are invisible. The empty space is filled with air, but it can’t be seen or captured. He is interested in the invisible, space, air, negative space, etc. He reveals what is invisible, using a light material such as a black liquid adhesive, with the support of non-material materials such as light, air or other intangible materials. Among his works, in particular, by analyzing the works of the series Vertical Volume, Daily Distance, Gawa, Shaping Air – A Breath of Mobility and Vertical Space, we look for the meaning of invisible air, breath, ki, svi, the etymology of sunyata, wonsang 원상, and the meaning of emptiness of Tao and Buddhism. Through the work of Yasuaki Onishi, what is the meaning of the emptiness in his installation? And what is at stake between empty space and full space, visible space and invisible space, materialism and immateriality. In his work, which does not follow the general process of typical sculpture, we will find the connection with the meaning of “negative space” and the term Korean gan “간 ”, the space-time, as the Japanese word “ma ” that use as a concept of aesthetics in Japan. (shrink)

v. 1. ttŭt ŭl sewŏra -- v. 2. Kukpŏp ŭn chiŏmhan kŏt ida -- v. 3. Punsu nŭl nŏmji mara.

RNA localization is a powerful strategy used by cells to localize proteins to subcellular domains and to control protein synthesis regionally. In germ cells, RNA targeting has profound implications for development, setting up polarities in genetic information that drive cell fate during embryogenesis. The frog oocyte offers a useful system for studying the mechanism of RNA localization. Here, we discuss critically the process of RNA localization during frog oogenesis. Three major pathways have been identified that are temporally and spatially separated (...) in oogenesis. Each pathway uses a different mechanism to effect RNA localization. In some cases, localization elements within the 3' untranslated region have been identified and have provided unique insights into the localization process. This important field is still in its infancy, however, and much remains to be learned. BioEssays 21:546–557, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

There is no notion of postmortem Heaven and Hell in both ancient Israeli and Confucian traditions, and the two traditions also share quite a number of similarities about the idea of immortal life after death. Therefore, a comparison of the commonness in this field, e.g. the Jewish Levirate Marriage custom and the Confucian custom of adopting one’s son as heir; the idea of name surviving death in Biblical Judaism and that of glorifying one’s parents by making one’s name famous in (...) future ages in Confucianism, can help us reveal the common pursuit in the two traditions: the postmortem fulfillment of an individual is realized in the form of the continuation of one’s family/ tribe/ nation of which they were, and forever remain, a generational link. In addition, this can help clarify a long faulted Confucian dogma of “Having no male heir being the gravest of the three cardinal offences against filial piety”. (shrink)

Resumen: El piano, de origen europeo, es la cristalización de la civilización musical occidental y es conocido como el rey de los instrumentos musicales. Después de cientos de años de desarrollo, ha desarrollado un sistema relativamente completo de creación, interpretación y enseñanza. En este proceso, se puede ver que hay muchas obras de música para piano con el estilo y el encanto únicos del pensamiento tradicional chino, utilizando el método de la música folclórica china y la melodía con características chinas. (...) La combinación de pensamientos tradicionales y piano demuestra el encanto único de la música china, con una fuerte herencia cultural y atractivo artístico. Por lo tanto, las obras de música para piano infiltradas en el pensamiento tradicional chino no son sólo un tesoro de China, sino también un elemento indispensable en la interpretación y educación del piano chino. El propósito de este artículo es comprender y reflexionar profundamente sobre las obras de música para piano en la cultura tradicional china, explorar la singularidad y el encanto de las obras de música para piano chinas y comprender la encarnación de los pensamientos tradicionales chinos en la creación de música para piano, explorando así la singularidad y la innovación. de la creación de música para piano china, proporcionando referencia y apoyo para promover el desarrollo de las obras de música para piano china. (shrink)

김석문이 생존했던 17세기 후반과 18세기 초반 조선 학계는 예론 중심주의, 주자 중심주의가 주류를 이룬다. 16세기에는 조선조 대부분의 학자들이 가담했던 사단칠정론과 18세기에 이르러서는 새롭게 등장한 인물성동이론이 조선 학계의 주된 담론들이었다. 당시의 주자학자들은 자연에 대한 연구보다는 이기심성론이나 예설에 천착하는 것이 일반적이었다. 그러나 김석문의 관심은 자연에 있었으며, 그의 자연에 대한 관심은 그 이후 조선 학계 관심의 지평을 넓히는 데 공헌을 했다. 이런 자연의 복권은 김석문의 「易學二十四圖解」에서 잘 드러난다. 김석문의 자연에 대한 관심은 성리학의 형이상학적 근간을 형성하고 있는 「太極圖說」의 해석에도 영향을 미친다. 김석문은 太極→陰陽→五行→萬物의 도식을 (...) 포기하는데, 이로써 태극과 음양, 오행, 만물의 연결고리는 끊겼다고 할 수 있다. 또한 ‘음양’과 ‘동정’은 재해석되는 과정에서 만물의 변화 법칙의 의미를 상실하게 되는데, 태극이 만물을 관여(또는 주재)할 수 있는 방법이 사라졌다고 할 수 있다. 다시 말하면, 태극이라는 우주의 궁극적 근원이 지상의 만물에 관여할 수 있는 통로와 방법이 원천적으로 봉쇄된 셈이다. 성리학의 형이상학적 토대를 구성하고 있던 「太極圖說」은 김석문에 와서 서양의 자연과학적 지식과 충돌을 일으키며 변화를 겪었다. 그런 과정에서 그것이 가지고 있던 만물의 생성론적 원천의 지위는 약화되었고, ‘동정’과 ‘음양’이라는 변화 원리도 효력을 상실하였다. 그럼에도 불구하고 김석문은 ‘태극’이 가지고 있던 형이상학적 속성을 완전히 폐기할 수는 없었다. 주희와 마찬가지로 김석문은 여전히 태극을 리로 보고 있다. 김석문은 리의 부동성을 강조하면서 리가 만물을 주재한다고 말한다. 그러므로 김석문은 조선 후기 자연의 경험주의적 이해의 새로운 서막을 여는 데 기여했다고 할 수 있지만, 완전히 성공했다고 볼 수는 없다. (shrink)

Cet article s’attache à décrire l’évolution dans l’amitié entre Chŏng Yakyong et Yi Kigyŏng. Beaucoup de choses les rapprochaient, objectivement. Tous deux étaient de brillants lauréats du concours du doctorat de 1789, tous deux étaient membres de la même faction politique, les Namin (les ''Sudistes''), tous deux étaient fonctionnaires civils à la cour du roi Chŏngjo ( r. 1776-1800) dans la Corée de l'ère Chosŏn (1392-1897), et tous deux jouèrent un rôle important dans cette période de grands changements, à la (...) fois socio-politiques, religieux, culturels et intellectuels, que vécut alors la Corée. Chŏng Yakyong s’intéressa à de nombreuses branches différentes du savoir occidental qui parvenait alors à la Corée, et il embrassa même, brièvement après sa confession, la foi chrétienne en 1784. Se sentant critiqué et calomnié, il la renia publiquement en 1797, mais son ami Yi Kigyŏng, auteur du Pyŏgwip’yŏn 闢衛編 ( Compilation de documents pour le rejet de l’hétérodoxie et la défense de l’orthodoxie ), ne voulut jamais y croire. Cet ami devint même un ennemi au point qu’il l’attaqua violemment, en 1801, ce qui valut à Chong Yakyong un long et douloureux bannissement jusqu’en 1818. À travers la lecture des textes dont nous disposons, officiels et personnels, nous tentons de comprendre ce qui s'est joué alors et d'analyser l’évolution de leur amitié face à ce qui les divisa – ces événements qui furent tragiques pour beaucoup de monde. (shrink)

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-97) was a pan-Islamic thinker, political activist, and journalist, who sought to revive Islamic thought and liberate the Muslim world from Western influence. Many aspects of his life and his background remain unknown or controversial, including his birthplace, his religious affiliation, and the cause of his death. He was likely born in Asadabad, near present-day Hamadan, Iran. His better known history begins when he was 18, with a one-year stay in India that coincided with the Sepoy Mutiny (...) of 1857-59. In what would become a life of constant travel, he soon went to Mecca to perform Hajj, before returning to Afghanistan to join the service of the country's ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan (1793-1863). He later sided with Dost's son Mohammad Aʻzam, who ultimately lost in a power struggle with his British-supported brother Sher Ali. Al-Afghani's political activism eventually took him to Paris, London, Tehran, Saint Petersburg, and Constantinople. It was during his second stay in Egypt (1871-79) that he cemented his role as a reformer. He found in Cairo a class of young intellectuals who gathered around him, established newspapers, and used these papers to disseminate his ideas. Chief among al-Afghani's Egyptian disciples were scholar Muhammad ʻAbduh, journalist ʻAbd Allah al-Nadim, and nationalist politicians Mustafa Kamil and Saʻd Zaghlul. Al-Afghani's influence on both modernist and traditionalist Islamic thought continues to the present. An activist who sought to effect change through political journalism and public speaking, he did not write many books. This treatise, entitled al-Radd ʻalā al-dahrīyīn (Refutation of the materialists), was a rebuttal of the views of the pro-British Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who had argued that science is more important than religion in the rise of civilizations. First written in Persian following al-Afghani's exile from Egypt to India, it was translated into Arabic by his student Muhammad ʻAbduh, with the help of al-Afghani's assistant Arif Efendi. (shrink)

Acostumbrados como estamos a la penetración discursiva de la industria cinematográfica hollywoodiense, la escasez de productos que nos llegan desde Oriente no parece poner en entredicho nuestros conceptos ni códigos; ítem más, en cuanto que esos pocos materiales se acercan a pantallas minoritarias y son visionados por sectores limitados de la población. Nadie se llame a engaño, el control de los medios de distribución y exhibición por parte de grandes multinacionales ligadas al imperio americano es cada día más férreo y, (...) evidentemente, el gigante defiende su producto y lo rentabiliza tanto económica como ideológicamente. Pero las cuotas de mercado no son tan favorables al cine dominante en Extremo Oriente (no mantiene su hegemonía mundial por ser la industria que más artefactos fílmicos lanza al mercado y, desde luego, tampoco por su calidad)... (shrink)

Mevlânâ Celâleddin-i Rûmî’yi (öl. 1273) sevenler arasında, Abdurrahman Câmî’ye (öl. 1492) atfedilen Mevlânâ ve Mesnevî-i Şerîf’ini öven “Peygamber değildir ama kitabı vardır.” mazmunu ile meşhur olan bir beyit vardır. İran’da daha çok yaygın olan ve Câmî’nin beytiyle aynı anlamı taşıyan ve ilaveleri olan üç beytin ise, Bahâeddin Âmilî (öl. 1622) tarafından yazıldığı bilinmektedir. Bu beyitlerde Mesnevî’ye verilen “Farsça Kur’an” lakabı ve “bazılarını hidayete, bazılarını dalalete götüren” ibaresi dikkat çekmektedir. Bu beyitlerin içerikleri, Muhammed İkbal (öl. 1938) ve Muhammed Hüseyin Şehriyâr (öl. (...) 1988) gibi son asrın bazı büyük şairlerinin, Reynold Nicholson (öl. 1945) ve Annemarie Schimmel (öl. 2003) gibi müsteşrik yazarların eserlerinde de görünmektedir. Hz. Mevlânâ ise kendisini Kur’ân’ın kölesi ve Hz. Muhammed’in (s.a.v) yolunun toprağı olarak tanıtmış ve anılan beyitlerin ima edebileceği gibi hiçbir zaman peygamberlik iddiasında bulunmamıştır. Ârif şair Mesnevî’nin çeşitli yerlerinde Kur’ân’ın vasıflarını, emir ve nehiylerini, evrensel mesajlarını ve ayetlerin üzerinde tefekkür etmenin önemini serdetmiştir. Kur’ân’ı daha iyi ve doğru kavrayabilmek için neler yapılmalıdır açıklamış ve yöntemler sunmuştur. Kur’ân’daki bazı hikâyeleri tekrar anlatmış ve detaylandırarak şerh etmiştir. Hz. Peygamber efendimizin yüce makamını övmüş, başka peygamberlerin hikâyelerini, onlara gösterdiği saygıyla aktarmıştır. Hz. Mevlânâ ve Mesnevî-i Şerîf methiyesi olarak söylenen şiirlerdeki tanımlar, bir taraftan Mesnevî’nin dibacesinde Mevlânâ’nın kendi kaleminden çıkmış “Bu Mesnevî kitabıdır ve dinin asıllarının asıllarının asıllarıdır.” cümlesinden esinlenmiş olabilir. Mevlânâ bu mukaddimede eserini Kur’an sıfatlarıyla tavsif etmiş ve onun Allah tarafından korunduğunu söylemiştir. Mesnevî şârihi olan İsmail Ankaravî’nin, “Mesnevî Kur’ân ve Hadis tefsirlerinden meydana gelmiş mecmau’l-bahreyndir.” ifadesi de bu konuyu izah etmektedir. Mesnevî’de belirgin bir şekilde ayetlerin şerhi veya ayetlere yönelik telmihler geçmektedir. Toplam iki bin iki yüzü aşkın yerde ayetlere atıf mevcuttur. Bu da Mesnevî’nin Kur’ân’ın bir tür tefsiri olabileceğini işaret etmektedir. Başka bir açıdan bakıldığında, Mesnevî ile Kur’ân arasında çeşitli yazılış ve biçim benzerlikleri kurulabilmektedir. Mesnevî’nin de Kur’ân gibi bir emirle başlaması, bir ilham (vahiy) ürünü olması, başlangıcında tüm kitabın özetinin geçmesi, anlatım şeklinin genelde hikâye ve temsillerle olması, suretten manaya geçip anlaşılması için şerh ve tefsire ihtiyaç olması vb. birçok müşabih veçheleri vardır. Bu bakımlardan, Mesnevî peygamber olmayan biri tarafından Farsça Kur’ân’a benzetilmiştir denilebilir. Bu çalışmada önce bu nitelemenin çıkma ve kullanma serüveni takip edilecek, sonra Mevlânâ’nın Kur’ân hakkındaki görüşleri, Mesnevî’de Kur’ân’ın yeri, Kur’ân ve Mesnevî’nin ortak yönleri ele alınarak neden bu büyük şair ve yazarlar tarafından Mesnevî’ye Farsça Kur’ân denildiği açıklanmaya çalışılacaktır. (shrink)

Xunzi's philosophy provides a rich resource for understanding how ethical relationships between humans and nature can be articulated in terms of harmony. In this paper, I build on his ideas to develop the concept of reciprocal harmony, which requires us to reciprocate those who make our lives liveable. In the context of the environment, I argue that reciprocal harmony generates moral obligations towards nature, in return for the existential debt that humanity owes towards heaven and earth. This can be used (...) as a normative basis for an environmental ethic that enables humanity and nature to flourish together. (shrink)

The article focuses on the analysis of curriculum documents from Taiwan to investigate how benchmarks for learning nature of science are positioned in different versions of the science curricula. Following a review of different approaches to the conceptualization of NOS and the role of NOS in promoting scientific literacy, an empirical study is reported to illustrate how the science curriculum documents represent different aspects of NOS. The article uses the family resemblance approach as the account of NOS and adapts it (...) for analysis of the curriculum documents. The FRA defines NOS as cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional systems that serve as constructs of knowledge categories with a high level of interconnectedness. The FRA was used as an analytical tool for investigating two sets of Taiwanese curriculum guidelines published 10 years apart, providing an opportunity to discuss how NOS is addressed in the curriculum reforms. The findings show a shift away from the excessive centralization of the cognitive-epistemic system to a consideration of the social-institutional system. Modifications to the benchmarks are proposed in order to achieve a more holistic and progressive approach to NOS. The article contributes to studies on NOS in science education by illustrating how the FRA can act as a tool for exploring interconnectedness of NOS ideas in the curriculum. (shrink)

This study examines whether human gaze lacking the confounding factor of eye whites can be processed unconsciously and explores the critical aspects for such process. Utilizing the continuous flash suppression paradigm, a schematic face—with direct or averted gaze, and with neutral, fearful or happy expressions—was presented to one eye while dynamic masks rendered it invisible to the other eye. Schematic faces were used to avoid unwanted influence from salient eye whites. Participants’ detection time of anything other than the masks was (...) used as an index of unconscious processing time. Faster detection was found for faces with direct gaze than those with averted gaze. However, there was no difference between detection times for different facial expressions and upright-face, inverted-face, and eyes-only conditions . These results confirm that, with schematic faces, gaze can be processed unconsciously regardless of facial expression, and eyes alone are sufficient for such process. (shrink)

Although the relationship between stressors and thriving at work has been established, the linkage between them is still in the early stages of theory development. This study proposed a two-path model, based on Lepine’s stressors-performance model, to analyze the effects of the stressors on the thriving at work. Two complementary mediating paths were proposed, i.e., affective strain (positive affect) and motivation (self-efficacy), which were explained using affective events theory and expectancy theory, respectively. Based on the empirical data from 233 employees, (...) the results show that challenge stressors could enhance employees’ positive affect and self-efficacy, thus leading to thriving at work; on the contrary, hindrance stressors would result in negative influences. In addition, it is also found that the effect of affective path tend to be greater than that of motivation path, which could provide a practical guide for organizations to effectively apply stress management and to promote employees thriving at work. (shrink)

While dynamic epistemic logics with common knowledge have been extensively studied, dynamic epistemic logics with distributed knowledge have so far received far less attention. In this paper we study extensions of public announcement logic ( $\mathcal{PAL }$ ) with distributed knowledge, in particular their expressivity, axiomatisations and complexity. $\mathcal{PAL }$ extended only with distributed knowledge is not more expressive than standard epistemic logic with distributed knowledge. Our focus is therefore on $\mathcal{PACD }$ , the result of adding both common and (...) distributed knowledge to $\mathcal{PAL }$ , which is more expressive than each of its component logics. We introduce an axiomatisation of $\mathcal{PACD }$ , which is not surprising: it is the combination of well-known axioms. The completeness proof, however, is not trivial, and requires novel combinations and extensions of techniques for dealing with $S5$ knowledge, distributed knowledge, common knowledge and public announcements at the same time. We furthermore show that $\mathcal{PACD }$ is decidable, more precisely that it is $\textsc {exptime}$ -complete. This result also carries over to $\mathcal{S 5\mathcal CD }$ with common and distributed knowledge operators for all coalitions (and not only the grand coalition). Finally, we propose a notion of a trans-bisimulation to generalise certain results and give deeper insight into the proofs. (shrink)

Item response theory (IRT) is a modern psychometric framework for estimating respondents’ latent traits (e.g., ability, attitude, and personality) based on their responses to a set of questions in psychological tests. The current study adopted an item response tree (IRTree) method, which combines the tree model with IRT models for handling the sequential process of responding to a test item, to score individual moral inclination for the CNI test—a broadly adopted model for examining humans’ moral decision-making with three parameters generated: (...) sensitivity to moral norms, sensitivity to consequences, and inaction preference. Compared to previous models for the CNI test, the resulting EIRTree-CNI Model is able to generate individual scores without increasing the number of items (thus, less subject fatigue or compromised response quality) or employing a post hoc approach that is deemed statistically suboptimal. The model fits the data well, and the subsequent test also supported the concurrent validity and the predictive validity of the model. Limitations are discussed further. (shrink)

In this paper, I criticize John Bigelow's account of number and present my own account that results from the criticism. In doing so, I argue that proper understanding of the nature of number requires a radical departure from the standard conception of language and reality and outline the alternative conception that underlies my account of number. I argue that Bigelow's account of number rests on an incorrect analysis of the plural constructions underlying the talk of number and propound an analysis (...) of numerical sentences, such as "Quine and Goodman are two", that conforms to the natural understanding of the plural constructions. The analysis leads to the account of number according to which natural numbers are properties, i.e., one-place relations: the number two, for example, is the property indicated by "to be two", which, I argue, is a one-place predicate that can combine with plural terms like "Quine and Goodman". (shrink)

Motivated by contemporary debates concerning whether directors inappropriately deploy corporate funds for corporate political donations and the limited research into managerial influence on corporate political donations, we examine the impact of director influences from a network perspective. Using a sample of large listed Australian corporations and their political party donation activity during 2000–2007, we find that both the professional and non-professional networks of directors influence corporate political donations. We observe these influences in relation to donations at the federal and state (...) levels, and with respect to the choice of recipient political parties. (shrink)

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered (...) to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

This study examines the degree of state ownership on corporate bribery. Integrating the theories of state ownership and corporate corruption, we propose that state ownership influences bribery propensity and bribery intensity in different ways; it lowers a firm’s tendency to pay bribes but increases the relative amount of bribery payment. Building on the control rights/bargaining hypotheses, we demonstrate that state ownership shields firms from bribery demands by reducing administrative hurdles that include bureaucratic requirements of obtaining licenses or settling taxes in (...) business operations. However, state ownership elevates the level of bribes by weakening their capital mobility. Using a sample of 23,018 firms from 54 countries covering 2006 to 2013, we find evidence to support our hypotheses. This article contributes to corruption research by drawing attention to an important channel of corruption and by highlighting the importance of considering not only the propensity but also the intensity of bribe payments. (shrink)

The “wisdom of the crowd” phenomenon refers to the finding that the aggregate of a set of proposed solutions from a group of individuals performs better than the majority of individual solutions. Most often, wisdom of the crowd effects have been investigated for problems that require single numerical estimates. We investigate whether the effect can also be observed for problems where the answer requires the coordination of multiple pieces of information. We focus on combinatorial problems such as the planar Euclidean (...) traveling salesperson problem, minimum spanning tree problem, and a spanning tree memory task. We develop aggregation methods that combine common solution fragments into a global solution and demonstrate that these aggregate solutions outperform the majority of individual solutions. These case studies suggest that the wisdom of the crowd phenomenon might be broadly applicable to problem-solving and decision-making situations that go beyond the estimation of single numbers. (shrink)

Psychological Sequentialism holds that no causal constraint is necessary for the preservation of what matters in survival; rather, it is sufficient for preservation if two groups of mental states are similar enough and temporally close enough. Suppose that one’s body is instantaneously dematerialized and subsequently, by an amazing coincidence, a collection of molecules is configured to form a qualitatively identical human body. According to Psychological Sequentialism, these events preserve what matters in survival. In this article, I examine some of the (...) main arguments for the view and argue that they fail to establish that no causal constraint is necessary. I also argue that Psychological Sequentialism yields implausible consequences that render it hard to accept the view. (shrink)

Based on recent findings, we propose a framework for a relationship among attention, effort and optimal performance. Optimal performance often refers to an effortless and automatic, flow-like state of performance. Mindfulness regulates the focus of attention to optimal focus on the core component of the action, avoiding too much attention that could be detrimental for elite performance. Balanced attention is a trained state that can optimize any particular attentional activity on the dual-process spectrum.